Multiple ironer



March 21, 1950 J, H LEEF 2,500,992

MULTIPLE IRONER 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Nov. 15, 1947 March 2l, 1950 J. H. LEEF 2,500,992

MULTIPLE IRONER Filed Nov. 15, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 E@ 2 if@ J. H. LEEF 2,500,992 MULTIPLE IRONER March 2l, E950 Filed Nov. l5, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Mar. 21, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MULTIPLE IRONER John H. Leef, Minneapolis, Minn.

Application November 15, 1947, Serial No. 786,217

Claims.

My invention relates to tubular garment ironers and, more particularly, to ironing devices which can be used for ironing or pressing legs or other tubular portions of tubular garments on a volume basis.

Even more specifically, my invention relates to the use of garment ironers of the type disclosed and claimed in my earlier Patent No. 2,128,003. Heretofore, it has been common practice to arrange a plurality of such garment ironers in a circle or cluster so that the same may be tended to by one or more operators with but a minimum of waste time and effort. In practice, one operator can successfully operate two or three of these ironers. The number which one operator can efficiently operate, however, is obviously limited to the time element involved in the drying and pressing of the garment which he has placed upon the rst dryer, for, at this point, he must return to the rst ironer and operate mechanism to facilitate partial rotation of the garment in order to thoroughly dry and iron all parts of the sleeve or leg.

The object of my invention is to place a relatively large number of these tubular garment ironers on an endless track or turntable which may be rotated to bring each ironer successively to an operators station.

Another object of my invention is the provision of means for automatically imparting partial rotary movements to tubular garments on the ironers at a point remote from the operators stand, whereby each tubular garment will be ironed completely around its circumference in its course of travel around the track.

Another object of my invention is the provision of automatic means for manipulation of the mov able boots of the ironers with respect to the xed boots thereof to facilitate partial rotation of the garment as well as insertion onto the ironer of the garments and removal of the garments from the ironer.

A still further object of my invention is the provision of a device of the type immediately above described, which is relatively inexpensive to construct, which requires but a minimum of labor to operate, and which is extremely durable in use.

The above and still further objects of my invention will become apparent from the following detailed specification, appended claims, and attached drawings.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the Several views:

Fig. l is a plan of my improved device with some parts being broken away and some parts being shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view on a reduced scale of the turntable removed from the track;

Fig. 4 is a plan View of the track for supporting a turntable and cam means used in operating my device, also on a reduced scale, some parts being broken away;

Fig.-5 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 6--6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a transverse section taken on the line 1--1 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 8 is a view corresponding to Fig. '7, but of a different position of some of the parts.

Referring with greater particularity to the drawings, the numeral I indicates, in its entirety, a turntable comprising an annular supporting plate 2 secured to a concentric annular hub 3 by means of a plurality of radial arms 4. The plate 2 is reinforced by concentric annular flanges 5 and 6, the latter being in the nature of a structural angle iron. Radially-disposed partitions 1, secured by welding or the like to the flanges -5 and 6 and to the top plate 2, are provided with flanges 8 which form bearings, journalling wheels 9 (see particularly Figs. 2, 5', and 6). The Wheels 9 are adapted to travel on and be supported by an endless circular track I0.

Circumferentially-spaced around the plate 2 are a plurality of identical box-like supporting pedestals I Lupon which, adjacent the inner edge of each, is rigidly secured, by means of machine screws or the like I2, pressing elements in the nature of elongated upright relatively xed boots I3. A plurality of movable boots I4, one each cooperating with a relatively xed boot I3, is supported therefrom by means of links I5 pivotally secured at their lower ends-to the lower end portion of the relatively ixed boots I3 and at their upper ends to the intermediate portions of the relatively movable boots I4, as indicated at I6 and I1, respectively. It will thus be seen that the relatively movable boots I4, under the action of gravity, are biased away to become laterally separated fromv their cooperating relatively fixed boots I3. I t is this action which causes the cooperating boots I3 and I4 to completely ll out a tubular portion of a garment such as a trouser leg or the like, indicated by the letter X in Figs. 5, 7, and 8.

A shaft I8 extends transversely of eacih of the pedestals I I intermediate its upper and lower portions and directly below the movable boot I4. A lever arm I9 journalled at its intermediate portion to the shaft I8 is connected at one end to the movable boot I4 through the medium of a link 20 pivoted at one end to the boot I4 as indicated at 2I and at its other end to the lever arm I9 as indicated at 22. At its other end, lever arm I9 has flexible connections with lever means 23 through the medium of a chain 24. The lever means 23 include a crank arm 25 rigidly secured at one end to a shaft 26 journalled in a bearing 21 on the under surface of the annular plate 2.

A second crank arm 28 is rigidly secured to the.

opposite end of the shaft 2E and extends in the opposite direction from the crank arm 25. Se-

cured to the free outer end of the crank arm 28 is a bearing bracket 29 in which is journalled a roller 3U. The roller 311, under rotation of the turntable I, is adapted to travel along the floor adjacent the track I0, at which time the movable boots I4 are permitted to fall away from the relatively fixed boots I3, whereby to tightly engage the garments for pressing action thereof. Ironers in this expanded condition are indicated by the letter A in Fig. 1, and ironers in a contracted condition or one wherein the movable boot I4 is moved toward the relatively fixed boot I3 are indicated by the letter B.

Means for successively and temporarily moving the relatively movable boots I4 in the direction of the relatively fixed boots I3 include a pair of substantially diametrically opposed cam elements 3| and 32 in the nature `of segmental tracks, concentric to and adjacent the track I0 and which Vunderlie the path of travel of the' rollers 30. It will be seen, particularly by reference to Figs. 2, 4, 5, and 6, that rollers 30 engaging the tracks 3I or 32 will cause movement of the lever means 23 and the lever arm I9 with consequent elevation of the boots I4 Itoward the boots I3. It will be seen that segmental cam track 3I is of greater length than the segmental cam track 32, for a purpose which will hereinafter become apparent. Cam track 3I is adjacent the operators station, which is shown by broken lines and indicated by the letter S in Fig. 1, and places the ironers in the boot-contracted condition as indicated at B so that the operator can easily remove a pressed garment therefrom and apply another impressed garment thereto.

The turntable I is rotated at a relatively slow speed by a Vmotor 33 which drives a shaft 34 through connections not shown but contained within a gear box 35. A sprocket wheel 36 is secured fast to the shaft 34 and positively drives a link chain 31 which extends about and is carried within a channel 38 formed by the outer peripheral portion of the annular plate 2 and the flange 6. The chain 31 is maintained in frictional driving contact with the flange 6 by means of an idler pulley 39 journalled to one arm of bell crank 40 that is pivoted to a quadrant 4I. Pin and socket connections 42 of conventional design are utilized to maintain the idler 3S in a position to tighten the link belt 31. Obviously, moving the bell crank 49 in acounter-clockvvise direction with respect to Fig. 1 will loosen the link chain 31 in the channel 38. This arrangement provides an inexpensive but very satisfactory drive for the turntable I. It will be observed that the turntable rotates in a clockwise direction with respect to and as shown by arrows in Fig. l.

It will be noted that when the ironers are in a spread'condition as indicated at A, a portionof each tubular garment X is not contacted by either boot I3 or I4, and, therefore, is not properly ironed. In order to properly iron these portions, I provide means for imparting partial rotation to the garments X when they have completed substantially fifty per cent of the pressing cycle. A bracket 43, which may be supported in any manner, but, as shown, depends from a supporting medium such as a ceiling 44, is held rigid by a brace member 45 and has hngedly secured thereto a friction blade 46. The friction blade 45 is made up of .a garment-engaging plate 41 rigidly secured to a reinforcing bar 48, which is provided with spaced axially-aligned hinge lugs 49. The friction plate 41 may be made from any suitable material such as wood or semi-hard rubber having a roughened garment-engaging friction surface 50. A pivotl pin 5I extends through the hinge lugs 49 and through aligned hinge lugs 52 rigidly secured to the bracket 43; and a pair of torsion springs 53 is provided each having one end engaging the bracket 43 and the other engaging the friction blade 46, whereby to bias the friction plate 41 toward the path of travel of the relatively fixed ironing boots I3 (see particularly Figs. l, 5, "i, and 8). The friction blade 46 is located at a point remote from the operators sta.- tion S when the ironers are moved to their contracted position B by engagement of the rollers 30 with the cam element 32. It will be seen, particularly by reference to Figs. '7 and 8, that, as each ironer comes into contact with the friction plate 41, the friction surface engages the garment X thereon. Further` movement of the turntable I causes each boot I3 to force the friction blade 46 toward its position of Fig. 8 against the bias of the springs 53 and rotation of the garment X on the boots I3 and I4 results.

The ironing boots I3 and I4 are heated by live steam in the manner disclosed in my prior Patent No. 2,128,003. Inlet pipes 54 lead downwardly from the interior of the relatively xed boots I3 and terminate in conventional T joints 55. The T joints 55 communicate with the interior of the boots I4 by means of flexible inlet connections 56. Steam is directed to the T joints 55 from a source not shown through a pipe 51, the lower end of which is rotatively connected to the upper portion of a steam manifold 58 through a packing gland 59. The upper or input portion 60 of the manifold 58 is divided from the lower or exhaust portion 6I thereof by a partition 62 having therein a central drain orifice 63. A plurality of exible tubes 64 lead one each vfrom the input chamber 60 of the manifold chamber 58 to one each of the T joints 55. The boots I3 and I4 are each provided with drain pipes 65 and 66 respectively that are connected by T joints 61 that are connected to the lower exhaust portion 6I of the manifold chamber 58 by flexible tubes 68. The inlet tubes 56 and the exhaust tubes 6 I, being flexible in nature, do not interfere with the freedom of movement of the movable ironing boots I4. Condensate from the ironing boots I3 and I4, passes through thetubes 58 into the exhaust chamber 6I from whence it is removed through a drainvpipe 69 through a packing gland 10. It will be seen, particularly by reference to Figs. 1 and 5, that the manifold 58 overlies and is concentric with the Lannular hub 3 of the turntable and that the exible tubes 64 and 63 radiate outwardly from the manifold 58 to their respective T joints within the pedestals II. The pipes 51 and 69 are stationary, whereas the manifold 58 revolves with the turntable I.

The manifold 58 may be supported by an annular supporting collar 1I.

In use, an operator positioned at the operators station S Will apply garments to ironer B adjacent the station. As the turntable I rotates in a clockwise direction with respect to Fig. 1, the rollers 36 are moved away from the segmental cam element 3I and allow the relatively movable boots I4 to be gravity biased in a direction away from the relatively nxed boot I3 and into pressing engagement with the material X thereon. During the first half of the cycle, the garment X is ironed to a nearly dry state with the exception of the portion thereof that spans the gap between the spread boots I3 and I4. As the turntable continues to rotate, the rollers 36 are successively engaged by the cam element 32, and the rollers 3| rising thereon impart movements to the movable boots I 4 in the direction of the relatively xed boots I3. At this time, the ironer is coming into engagement with the friction blade 46 and, as the ironer passes the blade 46, the garment is frictionally engaged thereby, and held so that it is partially rotated about the boots I4 and I3 to a point where the damp portions thereof come into contact with either the boot I3 or the boot I4. Then, when the ironer has passed the friction blade 46, the springs 53 will bias the blade 46 into position to engage the next successive ironer. As soon as the ironer has passed the friction blade 46, the roller will pass over the end of the cam element 32 and the movable boot I4 will be allowed to become, under the action of gravity, laterally separated from its cooperating fixed boot I3 and again engage the garment X. During the last half of the cycle, the hitherto damp portions of the garment X are thoroughly dried and when the ironer has made a complete revolution and the roller 3l! has again been engaged by the cam element 3l, the garment is ready to be removed. The removal of the dry ironed garment and the application of another garment to be ironed to the ironer, is made easy by the moving of the relatively fixed boot I3 when the roller` 36 is engaged by the cam element 3|.

It is to be further noted that, due to the particular design of my device, the operator does not have to move from the station S when applying clothes to or removing clothes from the ironers and that as garments X are applied to the ironer, they are moved away from the operator so that said operator is not affected by steam rising therefrom during the ironing period.

My invention has been thoroughly tested and found to be entirely adequate for the accomplishment of the objectives set forth; and while I have illustrated a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood that the same is capable of modification without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the following claims.

What I claim is:

l. In a device of the class described, a track, a tubular garment ironer movably mounted on said track, said garment ironer comprising a pair of cooperating boots, one of which is normally biased away from the other thereof, means for moving said ironer about said track, and means for engaging a garment on said ironer and imparting partial rotation thereto, with respect to said boots.

2. In a device of the class described, an endless track, a tubular garment ironer movably mounted on said track, said garment ironer comprising a relatively xed and a relatively movable cooperating pressing boot, linkage connecting said relatively fixed and relatively movable boots, said movable boot being biased away from said relatively fixed boot, means for temporarily imparting movements to said movable boot toward said relatively fixed boot during its travel on said track, and means for simultaneously imparting partial rotary movements to a garment on said ironer with respect to said ironer.

3. The structure dened in claim l in which said means for engaging the garment and imparting partial rotary motion thereto comprises a supporting bracket adjacent said track, a friction blade hinged to said bracket on an axis substantially parallel to one side of said relatively fixed boot, and yielding means biasing said friction blade toward the path of travel of said relatively xed boot.

4. In a device of the class described, an endless track, a plurality of tubular garment ironers movably mounted on said track in spaced relationship, said garment ironers each comprising a pair of cooperating pressing boots, one of which boots is normally biased away from the other thereof, means for moving said ironers about said track, and means adjacent said track for successively frictionally engaging garments on said ironers whereby to impart a partial rotation thereto.

5. In a device of the class described, an endless track, a plurality of tubular garment ironers movably mounted on said track in spaced relationship, said garment ironers each comprising a pair of cooperating pressing boots, one of which boots is normally biased away from the other thereof, means for moving said ironers about said track, means for imparting partial rotation to garments on said ironers, and means for moving one of said boots against the bias imparted thereto immediately prior to the operation of the means imparting partial rotation to the garment on said ironer.

6. In a device of the class described, an endless track, a plurality of tubular garment ironers movably mounted on said track, said garment ironers each comprising a relatively xed and a cooperating relatively movable pressing boot, linkage connecting each of said relatively fixed and relatively movable boots, said movable boots being biased away from said relatively fixed boots, means for successively imparting movements to each of said movable boots in the direction of its cooperating relatively fixed boot during its travel on said track, and means for simultaneously irnparting partial rotation to a garment on each successive ironer.

7. The structure defined in claim 6 in which the means for temporarily moving each of said movable boots in the direction of its fixed cooperating boot comprises a cam adjacent said track, a plurality of lever means operated by said cam, and connections between each of said lever mea-ns and one of said movable boots.

8. In a device of the class described, an endless track, a tubular garment ironer movably mounted on said track, said garment ironer comprising cooperating relatively xed and relatively movable pressing boots, linkage connecting said relatively fixed and relatively movable boots, said movable boot being biased away from said relatively fixed boot, means for temporarily imparting movements to said movable boot in the direction of said relatively xed boot during its travel on said track, a yielding friction element adjacent said track, said yielding friction element being so positioned that it will frictionally engage a gar- 7 ment on said ironer and impart partial rotary movement thereto during the period when said movable boot is temporarily moved in the direction of said relatively xed boot.

9. In a device of the class described, an endless circular track, a, turntable mounted on said track, a plurality of circumferentially spaced tubular garment ironers mounted on said table, said garment ironers each comprising cooperating relatively xed and movable pressing boots, one of which boots is normally biased away from the other thereof, means for rotating said table on said track, automatic means for successively temporarily moving each of said movable boots in the direction of its cooperating relatively xed boot as each ironer is moved to a pre-determined position, automatic means for successively and temporarily moving each of said movable boots in the direction of its cooperating relatively xed boot as each ironer reaches a point remote from said pre-determined position, a supporting bracket adjacent said turntable, a friction blade hinged to said bracket on an axis substantially parallel to one longitudinal side of said relatively xed boots, and yielding means biasing said friction 35 2,435,432

blade toward the path of travel of said relatively xed boots whereby to successively engage and impart partial rotation to garments on said ironers at the time when the movable boot is being moved in the direction of the fixed boot at said remote point.

l0. The structure dened in claim 9 in which the means for temporarily and successively moving each of said movable boots in the direction of its cooperating relatively xed boot comprises a pair of circumferentially spaced segmental cam elements concentric with said track, and a plurality of lever means operated by said cam elements and connections between each of said lever means and one each of said relatively movable boots.

J OHM H. LEEF.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent: v

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Vigerust et al Feb. 3, 1948 Number 

